The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to building a secure and credible information environment ahead of the 2027 general elections, speaking at the 8th Public Lecture and Awards of Excellence organised by Blueprint Newspapers in Abuja.
Idris said election integrity is shaped long before voting day, resting on the security environment, institutional credibility, the conduct of political actors and the quality of information reaching citizens. He pledged that the Tinubu administration would keep mobilising resources and technology to confront terrorism, banditry and kidnapping threatening public safety.
The Minister flagged the rising danger of misinformation and disinformation, warning that fast advancing artificial intelligence now makes it easy to fabricate convincing audio, video and images. He said democracy cannot survive deliberate deception, pointing to the newly established International Media and Information Literacy Institute in Abuja, set up with UNESCO, as a countermeasure.
Guest speaker, Defence Minister General Christopher Musa, represented by Major General O.T. Akinjobi, argued that election security has outgrown the old idea of guarding polling units alone. He said protecting democratic legitimacy now means confronting cyber interference and disinformation through intelligence led planning, stronger cybersecurity and closer agency coordination.
Chairman of the occasion and former Zamfara governor, Senator Abdul’Aziz Yari Abubakar, warned against turning insecurity into a political bargaining chip, insisting political leaders, communities and citizens must all share the burden alongside security agencies.
The lecture drew a heavy turnout of governors, ministers and traditional rulers, underlining how seriously Abuja is treating the run up to 2027 as both a security and information challenge.
By Asiwaju Adekunle Saheed
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